Net structure and method of making



Nov. 19, 1963 R. c. FEELING NET STRUCTURE AND METHOD OF MAKING 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 26. 1961 Richard C. Pee/fry ATTORNEY nie 3-,ll.l,lltifi Patented Nov. 19, 1963 hce 3,111,069 NET STRUCTURE AND METHOD OF MAKING Richard C. Peeling, Montoursville, Pm, assignor to Bethlehem Steel Company, a corporation of Pennsylvania Filed June 26, 1961, Scr. No. 119,370 6 Claims. (CI. 87-13) The present invention relates to flexible strand nets such as wire rope cargo nets. More particularly the present invention relates to an improved splice and splicing procedure for securing together the strands of flexible strand nets at the intersections of the strands.

Nets such as wire rope nets are at present customarily formed manually by skilled labor, and consequently the fabrication of these nets is a very time consuming, expensive operation. The securing together of the flexible strands of the net at their intersections is the most time consuming of all the operations in the forming of a net. The present invention provides a means and method for accomplishing this securing or splicing operation in a highly efiicicnt, expeditious manner which very materially decreases the time which has heretofore been consumed in splicing together the intersections of the individual strands of a net structure.

The majority of wire reps nets, such as cargo nets, fabricated at the present time are formed from individual strands arranged in adjacent zig-zag patterns. The apices of the zigzag pattern of each individual strand are secured to the apices of the pattern of adjacent zig-zag strands to form an overall net structure. The most usual method of securing the apex of one strand to the apex of an adjacent strand during the fabrication of a net is by passing the two strands side by side through a conventional compressible sleeve and then swaging the sleeve to secure the strands therein.

This procedure results in a satisfactory splice but is disadvantageous in that each sleeve in the net must initially be placed or threaded longitudinally over the respective strands which it is ultimately to secure in correct alternating order in relation with all the other sleeves before the individual strands of the net can be laid out in the final proper form which the net is ultimately to assume. This is a time consuming procedure subject to many possibilities for error.

it is an object of the present invention to provide a net having an improved means for joining adjacent strands.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a splicing sleeve adapted for the fabrication of flexible strand nets which can be applied after the strands of the net have been laid out in the pattern which they are ultimately to assume in the completed net.

It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a method of splicing together individual strands of flexible strand nets which may be practiced simply and expeditiously after the strands of the net have been laid out in their final net pattern.

The net splicing means and method of the present invention comprises a generally oval sleeve having a fastening aperture through the center. According to the present invention when two apiccs of two individual flexible strands which are to be incorporated in a Zig-zag weave pattern net are to be joined, the sides of the two apices are pressed toward each other to form two partial loops each of which is narrow enough to be inserted into the sleeve. The two narrow loops are then passed through the sleeve from opposite directions in an overlapping arrangement with each other and a fastening means such as a rivet is passed through the sleeve and both loops and secured to lock the loops within the sleeve.

The particulars of one typical embodiment and other objects and advantages of the present invention will be made more evident by the following description and several drawings in which like numerals refer to like structures and in which:

FIGURE 1 shows a typical flexible strand nct fabricated according to the invention;

FIGURE 2 shows an isometric view of the intersection of two strands of the net ready to be spliced together according to the invention;

FIGURE 3 shows an isometric view of the splice of FIGURE 2 partially completed according to the present invention;

FIGURE 4 shows an isometric view of the splice of FlGURE 3 completed according to the invention;

FIGURE 5 shows a cross section of the completed splice taken on line 5-5 of FIGURE 4;

FIGURE 6 shows a cross section of a completed splice of slightly modified form; and

FIGURE 7 shows a method of laying out the net of FIGURE 1.

Referring to FIGURE 1 there is illustrated generally a typical net 12 the body or actual net portion 14 of which is composed of a series of adjacent strands such as strands 16, 18, 20, or 22 outlined with heavy lines for purposes of illustration. It will be readily understood that strands 16, 18, 2.6, and 22 are not the only strands in the net but are specifically described only for illustrative purposes. All of the strands comprising the body of the net are arranged in a zig-zag form or pattern as will be made evident by an inspection of the particular strands 16, 18. 20 and 22 specifically enumerated and outlined in heavy lines in FIGURE 1.

Each apex of the zig-zag pattern of each strand of the body portion 14 of net 12 is spliced or secured to an apex of the zig-zsg pattern of an adjacent individual strand. For instance, as illustrated in FIGURE 1, apex 24 of strand 16 touches and is secured to apex 26 of strand 18, apex 28 of strand 16 is secured to apex 30 of strand 18, and apex 32 of strand 18 is secured to apex 34 of strand 29.

For purposes of illustration the splicing together or securing of just one pair of spices 32 and 34 of strands 18 and 20 respectively will be described but it will be readily understood that the splicing of all the other apices in the body portion of the not will be accomplished in the same manner.

FIGURE 2 shows in an expanded isometric view the intersection of the two apices 32 and 34 arranged in position to be spliced together but before the actual splicing operation has begun. Apex 32 has two identical arms 36 and 38 constituted by the portions of strand 18 on opposite sides of apex 37.. Likewise apex 34 has two arms 46 and 42 constituted by the portions of strand 20 on opposite sides of apex 34. Between apex 32 and apex 34 in FIGURE 2 is positioned an oval sleeve 44.

Sleeve 44 may be formed from any suitable material. for instance, heavy gauge sheet metal material or sections of tubing partially compressed to an oval form. When splicing together small net strands thin walled compressible sleeves can be used and it is to be understood that the present invention encompasses the use of such compressible sleeves also although the non-compressible sleeve embodiment has been selected as the principal embodiment to illustrate the present invention because of its more universal applicability. When a compressible sleeve is used the peened or swaged over rivet which secures the strands within the sleeve also aids in maintaining the compression of the sleeve around the strands.

Through both sides of sleeve 44 is a fastening aperture 46 through which a rivet 48 is inserted in the finished splice. Rivet 48 may preferably take the form of a double headed rivet fabricated in two sections 50 and 52. When the double headed form of rivet 48 is used the shank 54 of rivet section 50 is inserted through passage 56 in the shank 58 of rivet section 52 and the end of shank 54 peened over with a hammer or more preferably spread by the blow of a punch to secure it as is well known in the art.

While it will be understood that other forms of rivets or other types of fastenings could be used in place of rivet 48 without departing from the invention, it has neverthless been found that the double headed form of rivet 48 as illustrated in the drawings is very advantageous for the present purpose as the two sections of the rivet are quickly locked together by peening or otherwise, the two large preformed heads of rivet 48 cannot readily pull through rivet aperture 46, and when the end of shank 54 of rivet section 52 is spread even a minor amount by appropriate means it is virtually impossible for it to pull through the small close tolerance passage 56 in the shank 58 of rivet section 52.

It will be noted in FIGURE 3 that the shank 58 of section 52 of rivet 48 has a relatively large diameter. This large diameter is advantageous as it prevents the strands 18 and 20 at the apices 32 and 34 from damage occasioned by being bent too sharply around the rivet. Double headed rivets having such large shanks may at times not be readily available commercially and in such cases ordinary large shank rivets may satisfactorily be substituted for the double headed rivets shown, or if need be a sleeve or bushing may be slipped over the shank of the rivet to increase its diameter.

FIGURE 3 shows the splice partially completed. Arms 36 and 38 of apex 32 have been compressed towards each other to form open loop 60 comprised of apex 32 at the bend of loop 60 and arms 36 and 38 held more or less parallel to each other to form the sides of open loop 60. Likewise arms 4-0- and 42 of apex 34 have been compressed towards each other to form an open loop 62. Loops 60 and 62 have then been passed through the sleeve 44 from opposite directions until the two loops 60 and 62 lie adjacently in the sleeve in an overlapping pattern as clearly shown in FIGURE 3.

Rivet 48 is next passed through the aperture 46 in sleeve 44 so that it passes through both loops 60 and 62 as indicated in FIGURE 4 and shown in cross section in FIGURE and the two loops 60' and 62 are pulled back through the sleeve or down to the shank S8 of rivet 48 so as to lie securely around and in contact with shank 58 of rivet 48 as indicated in FIGURES 4 and 5. Rivet 48 is next permanently secured in the sleeve 44 by appropriate hammer peening or blows of a punch to finish the splice as shown in FIGURES 4 and 5.

FIGURE 6 shows a cross section of a completed splice of a modified compressed sleeve type. This type splice, which is desirable for splicing small diameter net strands, is formed from a sleeve 44a having somewhat thinner walls and a relatively shorter rivet 48a than is shown in FIGURE 5. The modified splice is formed in the identical manner as the splice shown in FIGURES 4 and 5 with the exception that when the rivet is finally secured the sleeve has been compressed securely around the cable strands particularly in the central portion of the sleeve as clearly shown in FIGURE 6 securely holding the net strands from longitudinal slippage within the sleeve, When used appropriately the compressed type splice is very desirable.

Although reference has been made above to the strands comprising the net, it is to be understood that this invention is applicable to a net made of a single strand of material. FIG. 7 illustrates one method of laying out such a strand to produce the net of FIGURE 1.

In FIGURE 7 a layout of the net strand prior to splicing is shown in which a number of pegs such as 64 and 66 are arranged in pairs in a series of vertical rows such as rows 68, 70, 72 and 74. Along the outside portion of row 68 are arranged pegs 76 delineating one edge of the net. Net strand 78 is strung between and around the various pegs so that it enters the peg arnangement at 80, passes around peg 66a, then back around peg 76a, down to peg 76!), across to and around peg 66b and so forth down row 68 until it reaches peg 76c on the lower left side of the net section from which the strand passes across to peg 660 of row 70, around peg 66c and up to and around peg 64c of row 68, across to peg 66d of row 70 and so forth back and forth between pegs 64 of row 68 and pegs 66 of row 70, an apex or 91 being formed in the strand at every point where :it passes around one of the pegs 64 or 66 respectively. It will be seen in FIGURE 7 that the strand is passed back and forth between each succeeding row 68, 70, 72, 74, etc. as described so that two overlapping apices 90 and 91 are formed around each pair of pegs 64 and 66. Each pair of pegs 64 and 66 may then be individually removed from each pair of apices 90 and 91 and each pair of apices 90 and 91 spliced together by the net splicing sleeves of this invention as above described and shown in FIGURES 2 to 6. It will be understood that FIGURE 7 illustrates only a part of a net formed from a single strand, showing only one side and several rows of meshes, and that the net may be enlarged by extension towards the right side or in any other direotion, but preferably upwardly or downwardly, as may be necessary to form a net structure of the desired size or shape as, for instance, the net shown in FIGURE 1.

It will be recognized that the splicing procedure described provides a secure splice between two adjacent strands of a net structure and that the splice furthermore may be very quickly and easily made by a few simple manual movements; requiring only that the two doubled 'over portions of the strands to be joined be thrust through a sleeve and a fastening inserted through the sleeve to catch and secure the doubled over strands within the sleeve.

Although the present invention has been described 'hereinabove in considerable detail, it should not be lim- 'ited to the exact and specific particulars described and/or disclosed but may also encompass such substitutes, modifications or equivalents as are included within the scope and spirit of the invention or pointed out in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A flexible strand net having adjacent strands arranged in a zig-zag pattern wherein the apices of the strands are secured together by splicing means, each such means comprising an open-ended sleeve, a portion of one apex extending into the sleeve from one end thereof and arranged in overlapping relationship with a portion of another apex extending into the sleeve from the other end thereof, and a fastening pin extending through both of the loops formed by said apices and secured to the sleeve.

2. A splice for the strands of a flexible net structure, comprising a tubular, open-ended sleeve having a fastening aperture therethrough, two loops of adjacent strands of said net structure extending into the open ends of the sleeve from opposite directions and overlapping in the sleeve, and a fastening pin extending through the sleeve and the overlapping loops of the two strands and compressing the sleeve about the two strands.

3. A method of splicing together two adjacent flexible strands in a net comprising inserting a loop of one strand into one end of a tubular sleeve, inserting a loop of the other strand into the opposite end of said sleeve in overlapping relationship with the first loop. inserting a fastening pin through the sleeve and through each of said loops to prevent the strands from being withdrawn from the sleeve, and securing said pin to said sleeve.

4. A method of splicing together two strands in a [lexible nct comprising forming a loop in each strand and inserting said loops from opposite directions into the open ends of a compressible tubular sleeve in overlapping relationship, securing the two overlapping loops within the sleeve by a fastening pin through the sleeve and the loops, and compressing the sleeve into intimate contact with the strand loops.

5. A splice for a flexible wire rope net structure comprising a one piece tubular sleeve open at both ends and having an aperture through opposite surfaces thereof, two loops of adjacent strands of the net extending into the openings of the sleeve from opposite ends in an overlapping relationship, and a double headed rivet extending through the apertures in the sleeve and through the two overlapping loops of said strands and securing the strands within the sleeve.

6. A net constructed of flexible cable arranged in a plurality of zig-zag runs arranged side by side, with the facing apices of adjacent runs overlapping, a sleeve surrounding said apices, and a pin inserted in the loops formed by said apices and secured to said sleeve.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 761,286 Conklin May 31, 1904 833,358 Wales Oct. 16, 1906 1,081,735 Gilrnartin Dec. 16, 1913 10 2,817,263 Pedley et a1 Dec. 24, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS 10,841 Great Britain of 1888 11,098 Great Britain of 1915 

1. A FLEXIBLE STRAND NET HAVING ADJACENT STRANDS ARRANGED IN A ZIG-ZAG PATTERN WHEREIN THE APICES OF THE STRANDS ARE SECURED TOGETHER BY SPLICING MEANS, EACH SUCH MEANS COMPRISING AN OPEN-ENDED SLEEVE, A PORTION OF ONE APEX EXTENDING INTO THE SLEEVE FROM ONE END THEREOF AND ARRANGED IN OVERLAPPING RELATIONSHIP WITH A PORTION OF ANOTHER APEX EXTENDING INTO THE SLEEVE FROM THE OTHER END THEREOF, AND A FASTENING PIN EXTENDING THROUGH BOTH OF THE LOOPS FORMED BY SAID APICES AND SECURED TO THE SLEEVE. 